Residents warned to stay out of coastal waters in Florence aftermath

North Carolina residents Nathan and Samantha Harvey walked by dead fish to get to their house after floodwaters receded in Wilmington.

Officials are warning residents to stay out of contaminated coastal waters to avoid infections such as earaches, hepatitis, skin rashes and respiratory issues, the North Carolina Coastal Federation said.

Joshua Stevens/USGS/NASA Earth Observatory

A pair of NASA images show how flooding after Hurricane Florence has affected the New River, White Oak River and Adams Creek waterways flowing into the Atlantic ocean. The true color image on the left shows how soil, sediments, decaying leaves and pollution have discolored the waterways. The right image combines visible and infrared data to show the colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) from those rivers inundating much of the ocean around Cape Lookout.

“The public continues to swim in the ocean and sounds despite these advisories,” said Todd Miller, executive director of the federation. “We feel it’s vital to let people know that the state has not yet tested any waters to determine if they are safe for human contact.”

Cooper said flooding has increased the population of mosquitoes, which can bring illnesses such as encephalitis, West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis. He’s ordered $4 million to help fund mosquito control in affected counties.

Aside from the parasites, flooding remains a concern.

In Georgetown County, South Carolina, thousands of residents were urged to evacuate ahead of historic flooding in an area where multiple swollen rivers converge.

Dead fish scattered on the highway as floodwaters recede in North Carolina

The county, which dodged the brunt of then-Hurricane Florence’s ferocious winds, sits at the mouths of the Waccamaw, Great Pee Dee and Sampit rivers.

The Waccamaw River crested Wednesday, and will start a slow fall Thursday. The Great Pee Dee and the larger Waccamaw River had swollen to record levels upstream, and in some areas water was headed downstream at historic levels.